Loving Death
by RainsBlood
Summary: Amber is the next successor to L. She is terrified of the job, and Kira. But when she meets Light Yagami, he makes her feel safe, and secure. But what happens when she finds out he is the very man she fears? Will she risk her life for an unjust cause?
1. L's Successor

Amber jumped out of her window, certain that she was right. She had to get away from Wammy's house. Tears stung her eyes, she really didn't want to leave but she had to. She was lined up to be the next L.

When L pulled her into the conference room, she felt apprehension. L thought she was ready to be him, but she wasn't. She was too fragile. Too everything L wasn't. He was calm, collected, and she was on edge and disorganized.

She wiped the lingering tear on her cheek. "I can't do this!" she ran faster. Her backpack flinging against her back making a sore spot in the middle of her back.

Life itself seemed to be frozen. She looked around at the quiet neighborhood. She had grown up here. Matt and Mello were her best friends, and Near, well, he was Near. She smiled thinking of all the good times they had had together. The parties, the chocolate, the games..the fun.

She shook her head and walked on. She needed to leave. She couldn't face them now. Everyone hated her, even her best friends. Mello wanted to be the next L, but she had snagged it from him. She felt ashamed that L had picked her. And Matt didn't really care himself, but Mello cared, and they were closer than she could ever be to either of them.

"Dammit! Not again! Another heart attack? I'll be right there." the man sighed in frustration.

Amber looked around the corner and saw a man dressed in a beige overcoat holding his cell phone and inch from his face staring at nothing. He was an older man with glasses. And by the way he talked, he was probably in on the "Kira" case. The "Kira" case involves a serial killer, who basically kills the criminals. But he's been getting rid of innocent people who stand in his way, and that made what he was doing wrong. She decided she wanted to meet a detective. Maybe she could go undercover.

No. She had to lead a normal life. No Kira. No L. No anything. She went the opposite way the man was going. But he stopped short and turned around to face her. Her back was to him, but she felt his eyes boring into her back. She made a one-eighty and faced him. He made a slight gesture to the way she had just come from. "I see you are from Wammy's house."

Her eyes grew wide, "How did you-?"

The man chuckled, " I know all the people that live here, and you aren't living with any of them."

"But? How?" she gathered her thoughts and managed to form a sentence "Yes sir, I do. I just heard you-"

"I know. But we cannot speak of this here. I must be getting on my way."

She reached out and grabbed his coat. "Please, mister. I- I need to know what's happening."

"That's not for you to hear, miss. I can see you are running away as well, and that's not worthy of information of someone loyal to L."

"But I-" she burst into tears. The man came over and assured her that everything would be alright, when it wouldn't. The fact was she was scared to death of Kira. She was leaving on her own selfish purposes of running away from the fear instead of fulfilling her destiny.

She continued to sob into his shoulder when a young man approached. He stood next to the man and put an arm on his shoulder, "Hey dad."

"Hey son. Miss-?"

"Amber."

"Amber. I'd like you to meet my son, Light Yagami."

She turned her head from the man's shoulder and up at the boy. He wasn't much older than her. His light brown hair gleamed in the moonlight, and his dark brown eyes reflected off hers. She stood stunned. He was beautiful. Everything she had ever wanted in a guy.

"Um. Miss Amber? My father and I really need to get going. Nice to meet you though." he said politely. She nodded and headed back to Wammy's. Her stomach turned over at the thought of L or Near giving her a lecture on her absence, and how it was 'unprofessional'. She was revolted by the idea. She had a mind to turn right back around and keep walking away. Well, maybe she could stay for him. Light Yagami.


	2. Escape

Amber sat in the big red comfy chair tuning out L's lecturing on her midnight break. She was used to getting scolded, but not yelled at. He was practically screaming at her. "Amber, how could you? What if-"

"L, stop it with the 'what if's! I mean I wasn't caught! The only person I ran into was Light and his father."

L's face turned a bright shade of red, damn he was pissed. "You idiot! You're lined up to take over after me, and you do this? You can't be so careless." he sighed and rubbed his temples. "How can I trust you when you pull off stunts like this? How Amber?"

She was near tears at this point. She couldn't tune him out anymore. His face displayed disappointment and betrayal. That's what caused her tears, him showing her how incompetent she was. Amber shook her head vigorously and dug her nails into her palms. "L, I'm sorry. I-I just don't feel like I can fill your position. You're everything I'm not. I'm-I'm sorry for wasting your time." she got up and left the room completely silent.

Matt and Mello were playing video games when she came in. Their disgruntled looks gave way to sympathetic frowns. Her face was red and puffy, her purple hair a complete mess. Matt stopped her as she walked by; he took her arm and said, " Are you alright? We kinda heard everything he said..I'm pretty sure the neighbors heard it too."

She collapsed on Mello's lap, "Why me? Why can't you be L, why do I have to be the example!" she cried.

Mello and Matt exchanged glances. Mello gathered his thoughts and formed, " Amber, you were chosen. You had the brains and the loyalty for this job. You can't just quit now."

Amber smiled, "I know. Thanks for making it clear Mello."

Mello gave a self satisfied sneer at a now entering Near. Near ruffled his hair and slapped Mello over the head with his newest action figure, "Shut it blondie."

"You prat, why I oughta-"

The room became silent. Amber was gone. And l had entered. L looked at the confused looks on their faces and asked, "Where's Amber?"

"She probably-"

"Near where is she?"

Mello looked defeated. He had been written off. Again. Near sat down beside an angry Mello and replied, "Well, I believe she is gone for good now. Good job Mello. You put the idea in her head that she could quit. Again."

"I did not! It's-"

Matt stood up and glared at both of them "We can't bicker! We have to find her, again."

L let out an angry snort, "Why does she do this?"

Near looked down at the floor then back up at L, "I think it's because she doesn't want to become you. She said so herself."

"That's preposterous-"

"Mello shut it. Near, why does she hate me so much? Why can't she do what she's supposed to do?"

Mello stood up and smacked Near's mouth closed, "She doesn't hate you. If anything, she adores you. But she can't take the pressure that the job entails. It's breaking her apart, she hasn't been her normal outgoing self."

L gave Mello a quizzical look then sat down on the floor, "She's afraid of Kira."

Near nodded, "Yes, she's terrified of him. That's why she doesn't want to do this anymore."

L's eyes formed tears that ran down his pale face. He took clasped his hands and stuck them behind his head, "Well, I guess she can go. She doesn't have what I thought she had, which was courage."


	3. The Hostage

Amber sat at the diner about a block away from her former home. She was sulking. 'Ugh. I don't know what to do.. I mean, I'm L's successor, and that's not going to go unnoticed! But I want a life of my own..but did I really make the right decision? Do I really know what's best for me?..' She was jerked from her thoughts by a man in a neatly tailored suit. He wasn't particularly handsome…but he was a well dressed man, sophisticated even. She curled her feet under her and looked up at his aged face. He didn't _look_ like a bad person. So she decided to actually talk to him. "Can I help you?"

The man, taken aback by the sudden outburst, slipped into the seat next to her. "Hey! What the-" he shoved his hand over her mouth and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. He grinned as she was fighting to loosen his grip. He leaned in to her ear, "Shut up, wench. I know who you are. And you'll have all those little geniuses trying to get you back. So we'll make a deal." he pulled out his laptop and opened to a screen with a number written on it. She read the number and gasped against his hand. She sat still, eyes glued to the screen. '1,000,000..I- I mean they- don't have that kind of money!' she tried to bite his hand. But he knocked her over the head and thrust a needle into her arm. "Sweet dreams, Simona Gregorvich." Her face turned pale when she looked into his eyes, they were red. Her head spun, and she lost consciousness.

Mello sat by the phone hoping Amber would call. He had been sitting there for 2 days straight. He leaned back against the couch and rested his feet on the coffee table. He let out a sigh-

Rrrrriing.

Mello jumped up and ran to the phone. He dropped it the first time. He cursed and picked it up and threw it to his ear. "Hello?! Amber-"

A soft chuckle came out from the other end. "I have her here. If you want her back, you better pay up."

"How much?"

"1,000,000.And I want it by tonight at sundown. If not, she dies."

"But we don't-"

"Goodbye."

The man hung up. Mello stood stone-faced. The phone dropped from his limp hand and clattered to the floor. Matt came rushing in, hearing the loud voices. "Mello? You-"

"Dammit! He took her! We have to get her!" he ran towards the door. Matt grabbed him by the elbow, "But shouldn't we inform L first-"

"No! We can't! I'm head of the mafia dammit! I make the rules, not the other way around. And _no one touches her. No one." his fists were balled in anger. Matt backed off and asked, "Can I come along too?" _

_Mello considered his proposition, then shook his head. "No. Too dangerous."_

"_Mello, if you thinl I'm just going to sit on my ass while you go and get yourself, and Amber, killed, then you're wrong! I am going. One way or another." _

_Mello sighed in defeat, "Okay." _

_Matt threw on his goggles, "So who are we going to get?"_

"_Light Yagami." Matt's face turned pale, "I know it's crazy, but we have to fight fire with fire. He is under suspicion of being Kira. We can use him, since his life means nothing to us." _

"_You can't just use someone like that! Even if he is Kira!"_

"_I can, and I will. He will help if it can help clear his record, which it won't, but he doesn't have to know that."_

_Matt looked unsure, "You want to lie to him, use him, then kill him?" _

"_Yes, minus the last part. Someone else will do that." _

_Matt shrugged, "Alright. But if we can't get her back alive-"_

"_We will."_

_Matt shook his head and followed Mello out of the door muttering, " You better get her Light, or I will personally kill you." _


	4. The Decision

Light Yagami sat at his desk attempting to study in the noisy environment. His brain wasn't functioning as well as it should. L already suspected him of being Kira, and if that wasn't enough, everything seemed to be tearing apart at home as well. His father always came home exhausted and rarely even looked at Light. He hadn't seen his father this worn out in all his years of policing.

Light sighed, pushing his light brown hair out of his face. He decided ,after two minutes of nothing but yawning, to go grab a soda. He had been 'studying' after all.

He reached for the doorknob but it flung open. A teenager, maybe a little older than him, clad in black leather and chocolate hanging from his mouth, eyed him up and down. Light scowled at the boy's short blonde hair framing his thing face. He then looked past the blonde boy and saw another one rushing up behind him. But this one wore a black and white striped shirt and green goggles hanging loosely from his brow. His red hair was a tangled mess, and he was out of breath. He clasped the other boy on the shoulder, "Mello, I seriously don't think this was the best plan! To run into-" he looked up and saw Light's astonished face mirroring his own. "Ah. So he is here. But still Mel-"

"Ok, who the hell are you guys?" Light said, folding his arms and placing another scowl on his face.

The blonde looked up at the rude interruption, "I'm Mello. And this is Matt. You are coming with us."

Light laughed, "You've got to be kidding me! I have to study-"

"Okay, listen up Yagami. You will come with us, and if you do not wish to comply you are going to be granted a 30 chance that you are Kira against your favor. However, if you are to come with us and do as we say, then you are granted 10 off you being Kira."

"That makes no sense! I'm granted less if I comply!"

"Alright, suit yourself, Kira." Mello said smirking. He took the chocolate bar from his mouth and pointed it at Light, "Oh, and you won't need to worry about studying where you're going."

"Fine! I'll comply. But what do I have to do?"

Mello cocked his head sideways glancing at Matt, "I didn't actually think he would comply. Hm." He placed his hand on his hip, "Here we go. One of our own has been kidnapped. We have reason to believe he is connected to Kira somehow, or has the same powers as Kira. That's what I think at least. But you can never be too careful these days, so what is it? Are you going to help us get her back?"

"_Her_?" Light's face sprang to life.

Matt growled at Light, "Don't. Even. Think about it."

Light took a step back faking a smile. "Okay. I won't. But when-"

"Now." Mello replied. He took Light's hand and ran out the door leaving Matt panting to catch up.

Amber's eyes fluttered open as she tried to assess where the heck she was. She fidgeted with the binds holding her, but she realized it was futile. Sighing, she laid against the wall, and took a look at her surroundings. She was in a warehouse, she wasn't sure which one, but it had rows and rows of cardboard boxes stacked one on top of the other.

"You're finally up, little one."

Her eyes diverted to the general direction of the sound. She saw the shape of a man coming towards her. His eyes glowed red. She winced against the wall, trying to somehow drill through the concrete into another room or another place. "Who are you?" she squeaked, feeling less sure about herself than she had ever felt.

The man chuckled, "Why, I am your worst nightmare."

She gasped and struggled to break free of the ropes, "Kira." she muttered, her voice higher than she had intended.

The man stopped, his eyes looked squinted in anger, but she wasn't sure. Suddenly he burst out in a scream, and she knew she was right. "I am not Kira! He is a weakling! He doesn't realize how important L's successor is, than L himself. I mean sure L can be a bit of a challenge too, but the successor is the one that will take over after he dies." he was breathing heavily.

Amber fainted, knowing this would be the last time she would see sunlight.

Light ran through the warehouse doors, hoping to catch a glimpse of a body. Sighing in frustration, he faced Mello, "Is she really here? I mean-"

"You doubt me now?! Her life is at stake from something you started! You better hope to God she's still alive."

"What?! You still don't believe I'm not Kira? I thought-"

" In conversational terms, yes you are deducted 10. But in my terms, you're still 100 Kira. I only brought you here to see what a mess you have started, and how it's going to end if she dies because of your carelessness."

Light gulped, "And what exactly _will happen?" _

_Mello glanced at Matt, the nodded and said in unison, "Death."_

_Light shook his head and ran off down a row of boxes to search for the missing girl._

_About 10 minutes later, Mello and Matt saw Light's hand signals, he had found her. Mello pushed Light down and stared at the scene before him. A man was holding a knife over the sleeping Amber. He could feel Matt's muscles tensing as he scanned the scene. _

_Light, laying bewildered on the ground crawled forward and looked at the girl, Amber ,she was apparently called, and gasped. He had seen her the night before. His father had been talking to her before he had gotten there. And he remembered the strange vibe he got from her. This must have been what it was. She was connected to L. Therefore, she was a threat. But he couldn't let her die, not yet. He had to condone to these two freaks wishes in order to live at this point. He glanced up at Mello's face. He was pale as a ghost, his eyes seemed to widen by the minute. And Matt stood there, fists clenching. Light sighed and poked both their knees. The boys jumped with a start, but looked down and realized it was just Light, the dork. _

"_What?" Mello asked in a hushed whisper, not once taking his eyes off Amber. _

"_We have to make a move, now. Otherwise she could end up dead." _

"_You mean, YOU have to make a move. He's your henchman after all."_

"_Now don't go blaming-"_

_Matt silenced Light with a slap. "Shut up. Both of you. Do you want Amber to die? If not, Light is right. We ALL need to make a move. By himself, he can't take down that full grown man. He needs help, like Mafia help. Whaddya say Mello, like old times?"_

_Mello nodded and smirked, "Let's kick some wannabe Kira's ass." _


	5. the Rescue

Light watched as Mello and Matt took out the bad guy, hoping to God he didn't have to do anything. He was too scared at this point to think. He glimpsed a flicker of movement from Amber. She was stirring. She moaned and sat up, looking around. Her eyes lay on him. She smiled meekly and threw her head in the direction of the fight. Matt was on the ground, arm bleeding, while Mello was fending the guy off. He was stronger than he looked. But then again he did look like a retired pro- wrestler. Light realized then what he was meant to do when they got here. He went to Amber and picked her up. She didn't put up a fight. Light ran through the maze of boxes and ran out of the door.

He was now in broad daylight, it stung his eyes. He accidentally dropped Amber on the ground with a "oomph!" She rubbed her head and looked up at him. "You're Light Yagami right?"

"Yeah. I'm him." he glanced at the alleyway, hoping there was some car waiting for him. He seriously didn't want to walk home. Then, Amber piped up, "Is there someone waiting for us? Or do we have to walk?"

\

Light pointed to a motorcycle leaning against the wall, "We'll take that."

"Ohhh no. Mello will kill you if you take his motorcycle, the last guy that even touched his motorcycle was in the hospital for a week."

"Oh. Well, let's get walking then."

Amber walked beside Light feeling happy. Not only was he cuter than any guy she'd ever seen, but he also saved her life. She knew, 'thank you' didn't work. She pondered for a better way to express her thanks, when he took her hand. He smiled at her, not warmly necessarily, but she didn't know what else to call it. She was being engrossed in her thoughts again when he asked, "You're L's successor right? That blonde kid talked about you a lot. I think he likes you."

"Light…it's not like that with us. We grew up together, like brother and sister nothing more. He's always been there for me when no one else bothered."

Light held her hand tighter, "I'll take your word for it.But I have to ask you. Why is he so….girly? And what is it with him and that red headed dude? They seemed to be consumed by the fact that you were gone and they looked like they would have endured hell to get you back."

Amber chuckled. "Light. The reason Mello could never love me that way is he loves Matt. Sometimes I think WAY more than friends, but they have a deeper connection with each other than I ever had with either of them. Yes, I know Mello looks girly. But that's the way he is..he likes tight things." she seemed to be holding back tears, "And the reason they were going after me so…viciously is..something I can't tell you just yet."

Light perked up to this response. He wanted to say: _Does this have to do with L?! But instead he answered: "Okay." _

_She smiled at him, knowing that someday he would come to love her as much as she loved him at this moment. _


	6. the Confrontation

Light went home feeling elated. He had found the closest link to L he could possibly get! He skipped by his giggling sister, "Light you look awful cheery today. Hehe!" He smiled at her and ran up the stairs. Once at the top he slammed the door, and collapsed on his bed.

"_Light, you seem happier today." _Ryuk said drifting through the window.

"Yes, today was a great day Ryuk. Guess what?!"

"_What?"_

"I found the girl closest to L. Now she just needs to be taken care of." as he said that his stomach clenched. He felt an overwhelming feeling of nausea. He couldn't imagine her dead. He could imagine L dead, but not _her_. "Ryuk.." Ryuk stood there in midair staring at Light in the creepiest way ever. "Never mind. You wouldn't know."

"_Is Light falling for this girl?" , _Ryuk laughed_, "The almighty Kira can't take down a girl!" _Ryuk seemed to be enjoying the new dirt he had dug on Light.

"It's not like that Ryuk! It's just, harder killing a girl who hasn't really done anything. She tried to runaway,-" he stopped short and jumped off his bed and to the computer. "My father told me she was from Wammy's house! This must mean that she doesn't want to stay! I could provide her a place to stay and threaten L by keeping her hostage!" He laughed as he said this. Ryuk grinned and nodded. _"Very nice human."_

_Amber sat watched tv with Matt, hoping Mello wouldn't freak when he saw her back. She had just gotten back, about 5 minutes ago, and Matt didn't say anything. But Mello would, she knew it. Her stomach churned at the thought of Mello. "Um. Matt-"_

"_Stay here Amber. You have to face him eventually. You already know he's going to be pissed, but that's natural." he gave her a stern glare. Just then the bathroom door flung open and she could smell the chocolate emanating from the bathroom. Amber ducked in her seat, impossibly hoping he wouldn't notice her. _

"_Matt you'll never guess-" he stopped as his gaze fell on her. His face turned from a pale white to a dark shade of red. 'Uh oh. He is so pissed..' she had the urge to run far away, but knew she'd be in even more trouble if she did that. "Uh. Hi…Mello." She said easing back into her chair. He ran over to her chair and lifted her out. "What the fuck do you think you're DOING? Do you know what we went through just to get you back?! And L doesn't even know what really happened! You better hope to god he doesn't find out, otherwise, you my friend are royally screwed. And you know what else-"_

_Amber burst into tears. She always fell apart like this, she couldn't take the screaming. "Stop! Just stop please!" she pushed him off her, and ran down the hallway to Near's room. He always seemed to know what to do in this kind of situation. She burst through his door and locked it behind her, hearing the running footsteps behind her. "AMBER OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!" _

_She cowered in the corner against Near. "Help me."_

_Near went to the door and kicked it, sending Mello sprawling on the floor. "Shut up Mello! You're making my ears bleed with all your high pitched yelling."_

"_My yelling is not-"_

"_SHUT UP." _

_Mello shut up. He scowled at the wooden barrier and went down the hall to his room, and slammed the door so hard that Mr. Moosey, their "piggy bank" fell to the floor. _

_Near sighed in frustration. "He always does this. He gets angry and something breaks! Mr. Moosey of all things!" _

_Amber blinked in confusion, "Near, I almost got killed and you're worried about a piggy bank?!" _

_He rolled his eyes, "Amber, he didn't do anything wrong and was broken for it. You did. There is a difference."_

"_What did I do-"_

"_Take a wild guess." she gave no answer, "I'll give you a hint: you ran away and got yourself kidnapped, and nearly killed, and he had to get a suspected Kira to find you and save your ass. And you don't think he'd be in the least bit pissed, that every time you do this something goes wrong."_

_She shook her head, "But Near, last time I ran away, or attempted to, I met Light. Nothing bad happened." _

"_Amber meeting Light was a bad thing. Now he knows what you look like and what your name is, you better hope to hell he isn't Kira, even though every sign points to him." _

_Her eyes brimmed with tears, she finally understood, "He can't be Near! He was so sweet."_

"_Have you ever heard of appearances can be deceiving?" _


End file.
